News: digital

EU launches anti-trust probe into Amazon's use of retailers' data

Amazon is facing a European Commission anti-trust investigation into how it uses sensitive data from independent retailers who sell on its marketplace. Read more

Springer Nature extends ResearchGate content sharing pilot

Springer Nature is extending its content sharing pilot with site ResearchGate, originally launched in March, with a new phase that will see the publisher roll... Read more

Audible launches fiction podcast featuring Johnson, McBride and Little

Audible is launching a fiction podcast featuring original short stories from writers including Daisy Johnson, Eimear McBride and Liv Little. Read more

Emerald launches redesigned Insight platform

Academic publisher Emerald has made live its rebuilt Emerald Insight digital research platform, which aims to make scholarly communication "easier and more engaging", in a development that represents... Read more

Publishing 'sleepwalking into oblivion' over library e-book lending barriers, says librarian

The book world is “sleepwalking into oblivion” if there are not changes to the terms under which e-books are made available to libraries, a chief librarian... Read more

Wiley spends $56m on STEM education courseware company Zyante

Wiley has acquired Zyante, a provider of computer science and STEM education courseware, for $56m. Read more

BookBeat launches in 24 countries in major European expansion

Audiobook streaming service BookBeat has launched in 24 new European markets, making the service available in 28 countries overall. Read more

Ckbk launches digital book subscription service for professionals

Ckbk, a new digital subscription service billed as “Spotify for cookbooks”, is launching for the professional market with licences in place with publishers and big... Read more

‘Jury out’ on future impact of Intelligent Assistants, publishers told

The jury is out on the road ahead for Intelligent Assistants like Alexa and Siri, with the potential for customers to abandon the voice search... Read more

Hachette joins titleShare audiobook advance-listening app

Hachette UK has launched a partnership with titleShare, an app allowing reviewers, bloggers and vloggers access to audiobooks in advance. Read more

Fifth of book buyers consume audiobooks, PA survey reveals

Graham Norton, Stephen Fry and Elizabeth Day are among the authors taking part in this year’s Love Audio Week, as a survey shows more than... Read more

Indies and Gardners adopt real-time tech to boost trade

Independent bookshops and wholesalers Gardners are adopting a new technology to help book-buyers discover which physical copies are located in bookshops near them.... Read more

404 Ink sells McQueer audio rights to Audible

Indie publisher 404 Ink has sold audio rights of Chris McQueer’s award-winning Hings, and follow-up HWFG, to Audible.... Read more

Mallender leaves HarperCollins for Blinkist

Rachel Mallender, group audio director at HarperCollins, is leaving the publisher to join Blinkist, a platform that summarises non-fiction books into 15 minute text and... Read more

PRH Audio and HarperCollins up for audiobook awards

Audiobooks from Penguin Random House Audio UK and HarperCollins have received a string of nominations in this year’s New York Festivals Radio Awards.... Read more